On Saturday, August 26, 2000 between 12:30 - 6:00 p.m., Wheeker passed away at the age of five years old. She was a petite guinea pig, not even two pounds, but full of spunk. She was a true leader, taking on the role after her friend and teacher, Sundae, passed on in 1997.

She loved scampering across the grass and munching on clumps as she grazed. She also loved her salad (click on picture on the left). It might seem surprising that she remained small with her eating habits; however, she had a love for life and adventure that kept her on the move. She was always alert, with eyes open even when she slept. A twinkle in her eye was evidence of the fun she was having.

She will be missed, but she has passed on her knowledge and the teachings of Sundae on to those who came after her. One thing she taught her mama very early in her life is to keep baby guinea pigs separate from adult guinea pigs, even if they cry all night from loneliness, for at least a few weeks ... or they may pass on diseases. Luckily, the lice she shared with Sundae were easy to eradicate; however, things could have been worse if she was really sick.

About a month later, on September 30, 228 gram Mikki came home stowed away in a jacket pocket on an airplane after a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area for a wedding. She is a black and white American (for side view, click on picture on the right) that looks a little like Mickey Mouse. She came from a guinea pig rescue. Her pregnant mother had been abandoned in a park, but a kind woman took her mother in and waited until a month after she gave birth before adopting out her and her babies.

Mikki settled down with her new family quickly and enjoyed human companionship from the day she came home. To this day she comes running when she sees a hand petting anyone and will nudge a hand that is petting someone else.

She also loves to drink lots of water. At first it looked like she was just playing with the water bottle, but it became obvious that she was drinking it all, letting very little of it drip from her mouth.

Sammie is not one to sit in one spot or lounge all day. She would prefer not to spend her time being cuddled. She would rather run and play, dodging human hands and scampering off. However, she knows how much her humans love to cuddle, so she tolerates it for around ten minutes before getting too restless.

Sadly, a few weeks after Sammie came to live with us, Chesapeake (4.5 years old) passed away on July 2 between 12:30 - 1:00 a.m. She had been losing weight for almost two years. Despite many tests, we never found out the cause of her weight loss. For over eighteen months, we syringe fed (10 MB Quicktime movie) her Critical Care four to six times a day.

One of her favorite pastimes was to sleep in the food bowl (click on picture on the right), even as an adult. She would not budge, even when her roommates nudged her with their noses when they wanted to eat. She was a very headstrong piggie who had a great Aby attitude. She was always alert and bouncy ... nothing got by her.

On December 6, 2001, we welcomed a 361 gram tri-color to our home. Kristine, a typical Abysinnian, is full of attitude. From the time she came to live with us, Kristie has always let us know what is on her mind. It was wonderful to have another Aby in the house, even though she will never replace Chesapeake (nor did we expect she would). She loves getting attention, and, like Mikki and Viola, Kristie will nudge your hand when she thinks you are ignoring her.

Though she is over 1.5 years old, she still behaves like a baby and loves to eat while sitting in the food bowl. She prances up and down the hallway during floor time and occasionally tumbles off balance when being cuddled.

Approximately a year and a half passed with no changes to our cavy family. Sadly, however, shortly before her seventh birthday, Truffles passed away on June 26, 2003 between 3:45 - 5:30 a.m. She had been losing weight over several years, usually after the death of a cavy companion, but showed no other signs of illness during her long life.

She was the first guinea pig we introduced as a baby on this website and had a rough start in life after the first week we had her when we found out from the vet that she had lice, mites, and ringworm. For several years, she was a skittish piggie (possibly because of the parasites that plagued her early in life), but later in life, she enjoyed cuddling with her humans. She was Viola's best friend and companion (click on picture on the right).

She loved her floor time, and often decided she wanted to stay out longer. Once, she stayed out long past midnight. It was not until 3 or 4 a.m. when a bit of scratching gave away her position. A very tired, but worried mama, who had camped out on the living room sofa, discovered the innocent-looking trouble maker wedged behind the piano.

The day after Truffles passed away, we found a very tame 373 gram tri-color Abysinnian (for right side, click on picture on the left). Glorie quickly settled down into her new home and was eating Cranraisins out of human fingers before she had been home twelve hours. She enjoys being cuddled and does not run away from human hands.

She has not joined the rest of the family yet, but they know she is here. She spends most of her day in her house, but occasionally she comes out to eat or stretch her legs. Today was her first floor time. She spent most of her time inside the leg of mama's shorts, but one day she will run with the herd. We are looking forward to getting to know her better.